What's the deal with no logging a bad day.

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  • Alice_Liddell
    Alice_Liddell Posts: 78
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    I had a bad day yesterday. I just wasn't feeling it AT ALL. I didn't want to exercise, I just didn't care. I was overwhelmed. So I took a day off and did what I wanted without worrying about it. No, I didn't log my bad Chinese food or my Fuddrucker's burger. I didn't care. I didn't feel guilty eating those things, and I didn't want to look back later and suddenly feel guilty over it.

    I don't know why people get so bent out of shape about others' diaries. Let them log how they want. Why does that have any effect on your own weight loss journey?
  • Karalopolous
    Karalopolous Posts: 574
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    When I have a REAL bad day, the reason I don't log it is usually because I ate so many randoms at mass quantities that I don't see a use in trying to figure out measurements and serving sizes when I already know I went over for the day:)

    This sometimes. Like if I really went over, it's gonna tax my brain far too much to try to figure out what the hell I just ate.
    I usually log most of my days though, but sometimes, like last night I was too tired, and I didn't care, I really didn't.
    Back to work today though :)
  • mochaphobic
    mochaphobic Posts: 92 Member
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    I take days off ~ good ones and bad ones both. I get forgetful. I get busy. My cell phone dies and I have no tablets that can access and my kids are on the computers at home... (I have a larger family). It's not that I don't want to log them in usually, I just know it won't serve me emotionally to try and log in the bad days because I will emotionally beat myself up and it'll be worse in the long run. By the way, I am choosing to not log in this weekend. We have a family celebration and I won't even begin to guess how many calories are in some of the foods I'll be possibly eating. SOMETIMES bad days are created because we eat something at a restaurant that has like 600 calories alongside other things that are 200-300 and you just don't even know HOW to log them in.
  • cindy4mica
    cindy4mica Posts: 777 Member
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    I log every drop of anything that goes into my mouth. If I don't hold myself accountable, I'm not going to succeed. Unfortunately, just because you don't log it, doesn't mean you didn't do it.
  • SteffieMark
    SteffieMark Posts: 1,723 Member
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    I have only seen someone say this once or twice. If I were to have a bad day, I would log it. I log everything though, even my vitamins. It keeps me accountable and acts as a reminder too. I think it would only hurt me, if I don't track it all correctly.
  • tmarie2715
    tmarie2715 Posts: 1,111 Member
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    I usually try to get it all in, but I don't hit the "complete" button. :(

    I think some of it is that it can be pretty hard to log a failed day. For me, I stop measuring, am eating without keeping even mental track of amounts, and sometimes plain forget things I've eaten. That kind of day is frustrating to try to relive. Onward and upward, right?
  • bitterfusion
    bitterfusion Posts: 82 Member
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    A bad day for me is usually if I go out to eat. Due to the fact that I cannot know for certain what the calorie content was, I don't log it. (This doesn't count for chain restaurants as their nutrition info is generally on this site).

    Also, I just don't want to beat myself up too much about having the occasional bad day.
  • Sagelit
    Sagelit Posts: 78
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    I don't log the stupidly bad days, like going to Stampede and random house parties where I can't even tell what to enter. MFP's database is filled with all kinds of random items that people have "homemade", so to try and figure out which one it's closest to is just a waste of time in a busy schedule. I assume I'm about a zillion calories over, and just move on to the next day.
  • cpotter4
    cpotter4 Posts: 116 Member
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    I must say, in the past I have never logged my bad days. But now I see how valuable it is. All week I have been working hard because tonight I am going to the drive in with my mom to see the avengers and john carter. It's a tradition that we do and we always get KFC and take it with us. So today will be a bad day for me and I already logged what I will eat tonight. But seeing the numbers made my eyes pop. It's outrageous! After eating minimally all week I know that the meal I want to eat and am looking forward to will make me sick because it is high in fat and carbs and my body isn't used to it any more. So I made decisions about having only certain pieces of chicken and getting the original recipe instead of the extra crispy (sorry but KFC isn't KFC if it is grilled. For me there would be no reason to get it). On top of that I decided to forgoe the traditional and ritually hot chocolate that we also usually do for a diet pop.
    So after all that I got the numbers to come pretty far down and I am going to stick to it! And I am going to hop on the elliptical for a while and mow the yard. It won;t be such a bad day after all since I logged my bad day ahead of time.
  • AntShanny
    AntShanny Posts: 366 Member
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    Yesterday I volunteered at my local alumi golf tournament and wasn't going to worry about logging...there was no way to know the exact count of anything, well except the beer! But I got home and logged it all anyway....just pulled stuff from the database that seemed to be close to what I had. I was over my calories by quite a bit, but was also on my feet about 6 hours so it wasn't like I was just sitting on the sofa stuffing my face. I figure once I get to my goal I might not log those types of days but for now I'm going to keep logging...even if some of it is guesstimates!
  • jiggy_gibby
    jiggy_gibby Posts: 197
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    I log every day except for traveling <no smart phone, no internet connection>.

    If I have a day I overeat, I log it all. Occasionally, I might be embarassed to put something in (like a whole box of crackers) but I usually do. If I am in a hurry then I log in calories only. I am not going to lie to myself - I ate those calories.

    The friends on my MFP list don't judge me for what I eat on a "bad day" and if they do, they can delete me.

    Why other people log or not is their business. I'm not going to change my habits because of them. Live and let live.
  • TheBraveryLover
    TheBraveryLover Posts: 1,217 Member
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    I don't know why people get so bent out of shape about others' diaries. Let them log how they want. Why does that have any effect on your own weight loss journey?

    Agreed.
  • MMarvelous
    MMarvelous Posts: 1,067 Member
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    I log EVERYTHING! I have to be ACCOUNTABLE for my actions - GOOD, BAD & UGLY! This is the only way for me to learn, grow, adjust and develop different strategies to deal w/ my current unhealthy life style. I refuse to accept my body and unhealthy eating habits but I ACCEPT the challenge to change them EVERY DAY...GOOD, BAD & UGLY!
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
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    A bad day for me is usually if I go out to eat. Due to the fact that I cannot know for certain what the calorie content was, I don't log it. (This doesn't count for chain restaurants as their nutrition info is generally on this site).

    Also, I just don't want to beat myself up too much about having the occasional bad day.

    This.

    If I have a day where I go over it is because I go out with friends and have a good time. I don't log it because one bad day isn't a big deal, and I just don't care enough to. I don't want to freak out about calories, I want to go and enjoy time with my friends and not have to worry.
  • FrostyFour
    FrostyFour Posts: 262
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    When I don't log it's not cause of the guilt, it's usually cause there's too much stuff I'd have to look up to put in there. On a good diet day I eat maybe 10 different things. On bad days I'm eating chips, things without nutritional labels, diggin up candy and donuts from my MIL's room, maybe it's something from the local bakery that I just don't know how to log anyway. Or I'm out to eat and can't find a similar item on MFP. Like the thai garlic shrimp I got last week? No freakin way that was only 100 calories, no fat, sodium or protein but that's what the only other thing like it said. Or I'm at a friends house and don't want to bother them for the recipe of something they made.
  • Quasita
    Quasita Posts: 1,530 Member
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    Personally, I log the days that I originally chose for my "on goal" days. Those days that I work out, and want to make sure that I eat well enough to support the workouts. I have stopped "completing" my diary entries because I'm tired of people being prompted to go look, critique, whatever they want.

    Maybe announcing it is accountability enough for them right now?

    I don't announce it when I choose not to log, I just don't log. I figure when I'm ready to do it, I will. So, I think the real question is, why are you announcing it to your friends in the first place?
  • Jmstill300
    Jmstill300 Posts: 239 Member
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    I log everything..... it makes me more accountable when I see those numbers going up. It also helps when you hit a gain or plateau. You can look back and figure where you went wrong. Logging it all stops me from "going any further" when I make a bad choice. Thought it was what this site was about??????
    I agree with this entirely!
  • Kerri_is_so_very
    Kerri_is_so_very Posts: 1,005 Member
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    I am spending the day in Boston tomorrow, going to a Red Sox game and I plan to enjoy many many beers, probably a hot dog and who knows what else. Just for the day I want to forget about counting every morsel that enters my lips, I do not want to think of every Sam Adams I drink as 250+ cals....tomorrow will be the first day I have not logged all of my everything since I joined this site 75+ days ago. I will enter a food note that says "AWOL - Red Sox Fever", but I will not feel guilty about not logging...but announcing why I am not logging to my "pals" lets them know their feedback or approval is not required for the day :). And I have added several extra work outs this week to make up for not doing any tomorrow. To each their own I guess.
  • soontobesam
    soontobesam Posts: 714 Member
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    Well you see, if you don't log stuff, your body doesn't process it, basic biology really!


    That goes along with the the though that if no one sees you eat it it has 0 calories.

    Also - calories don't count on your birthday. <-- totally used that before (prior to being a food logging *kitten*)
  • dlwyatt82
    dlwyatt82 Posts: 1,077 Member
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    <--- guilty. There are quite a few small snacks that don't make it into my diary. I keep a mental tally of them and try to make sure it doesn't bump me by more than a couple hundred calories at most. If I hit a plateau that lasts for more than a month or so, I'll have to be more strict about that, but for now, the weight is still coming off, and I can have my little secret chocolates now and then. :tongue:

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